Thirteen years have passed since we made this trip to the land of pharoahs and sphinxes. (Yes, there is more than The One.) With so much time having passed, much of the trip’s narrative had to be pieced together from the photo trails we created so long ago. And, as such, my goal with this travelog is to be more image-driven than text-filled. Let’s hope, MDR, I don’t have sudden bursts of memories that drive my typing fingers to work overtime!

However, the backstory for this trip bears recording here. Events that have continued to reverberate throughout the world to the present day nearly torpedoed the whole trip. It all began during a conversation early in 2010 when John and Carol Gibb told us that they were planning to book a trip to Egypt with Grand Circle Travel (GCT). Rob asked if they might wait a year so that he and I could join them. They agreed. We all signed up for a trip scheduled in the autumn of 2011. But then, starting in December of 2010, Arab Spring happened.

Across the Arab world, pro-democracy protestors rallied against the rampant corruption of the entrenched authoritarian regimes, demanding change. In Cairo, Egypt, these protests centered on Tahir Square beginning in January. And the nationwide demonstrations eventually brought down President Mubarak and his 30-year government. With the successful ouster of the tyrant and the establishment of an interim “democratic-ish” government under the military, the protests ended and things in Egypt calmed down.

Across the pond, both GCT and their more-exclusive (and expensive) Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) subsidiary still had Egyptian tours on the schedule. However, Americans can be a jittery bunch and, apparently, a handful of trip cancellations became a torrent. But, they found a fix for this. GCT & OAT combined the two groups together and ran the tour as scheduled. Huzzah! Our vacation was saved.

There was a last minute snafu regarding the need to purchase an expensive travel visa BEFORE arriving in Cairo rather than getting a reasonably-priced one upon arrival at the airport as had been customary before, but one does what one has to do. One final addendum: ours was the very last Egyptian trip conducted by GCT/OATS for quite a few years afterwards. Today, Egypt is back on their schedule.